BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Raymond Pace Alexander (1897-1974) and Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander (1898-1989) were pioneers among African Americans in the legal profession and leaders in public affairs, politics, and government throughout the middle half of the twentieth century. Raymond Pace Alexander, lawyer, judge, civil rights leader, and civic leader, was born in Philadelphia into a large working class family. His mother died shortly after the birth of his youngest sibling, and as a result Raymond was self-supporting from the age of twelve. He graduate from Central High School in 1917, from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania in 1920, and from Harvard Law School in 1923. Admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1923, Alexander specialized in criminal law and worked in the firm of John R.K. Scott. He married Sadie Tanner Mossell in November of 1923. From 1949 to 1951 he was active in the Clark-Dilworth reform democratic movement, supporting the Home Rule Charter for Philadelphia. In 1951 he won election to City Council and was re-elected in 1955. In January of 1959 he was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Court of Common Pleas, No. 4 and was elected to a ten year term the following November. From 1970 until his death in 1974 he served as Senior Judge.

Dr. Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander, lawyer, civil rights leader, and civic leader was born in Philadelphia into a well known upper, middle-class family. Sadie graduated from M Street High School in Washington, D.C. in 1916, from the University of Pennsylvania with her A.B. in 1918, her M.A. in 1919, and her Ph.D. in 1921. After working as an assistant actuary for the North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company, she returned to Philadelphia in 1923 and married Raymond Pace Alexander. In 1927 she graduated from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, the first African American woman to do so at the University. Continuing in her succession of firsts, she was the first African American woman to practice law in Pennsylvania. Sadie joined in practice with Raymond Alexander and specialized in estate and family law. She served as Secretary to the National Bar Association; she also served on Truman's Committee on Civil Rights, the committee responsible for producing the planning document entitled, To Secure These Rights. Sadie worked on local civil rights assignments, notably as chair of the committee responsible for the formation of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations of the Home Rule Charter. Her national stature was recognized when President Jimmy Carter appointed her chair of the White House Conference on Aging in 1978; she was removed from this committee by Ronald Reagan in 1981. Sadie and Raymond had two children, Rae Pace and Mary Elizabeth.

Elizabeth Mossell Anderson, Sadie's elder sister, served as Dean of Women at Virginia State College and later at Wilburforce University, Ohio. Upon her retirement in 1964, she came to live with the Alexanders in Philadelphia, residing with them until her death in 1975.

Virginia Margaret Alexander, Raymond's younger sister, became close friends with Sadie while attending the University of Pennsylvania as an undergraduate. She later attended the Medical College of Pennsylvania and practiced medicine there, specializing in gynecology, until her death in 1949.

INVENTORY

Raymond Pace Alexander Record Group

UPT 50 A374R (117.0 Cubic feet)

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

A native Philadelphian, he was born in 1897 into a large working class family. His mother died shortly after the birth of his youngest sibling, and Raymond was self-supporting from the age of twelve. He graduated from Central High School in 1917; entered the University of Pennsylvania in the fall of 1917; graduated from the Wharton School in 1920 and from Harvard Law School in June 1923.

He was admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar and entered practice in August 1923, specializing in criminal law. He began his career in the office of John R.K. Scott, a successful trial lawyer. In November, 1923, he married Sadie Tanner Mossell. Mrs. Alexander joined her husband's practice after she obtained her law degree in 1927. In the late 'twenties, Raymond established his own offices in rented quarters on Chestnut Street, remaining there until 1935, when he moved into the new building he had built at 1900 Chestnut Street in Center City. Between 1924 and 1950, he served as an advocate in a number of important civil cases involving issues of racial discrimination and segregation in public accommodations. He was also a defense attorney in numerous criminal cases, many of which involved a racial aspect or civil rights issue. Some of his cases were highly sensational and his success in litigation brought him a great deal of publicity.

From 1949 to 1951, he was active in the Clark- Dilworth reform democratic movement, supporting the Home Rule Charter for Philadelphia. In 1951, he won election to City Council under the new charter. He was re-elected to Council in 1955. From 1952 to 1956, he chaired the Committee on Recreation, and from 1956 to 1959, the Committee on Public Property and Public Works. In January, 1959, he was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Court of Common Pleas No. 4 by Governor George M. Leader. He was elected to a full ten-year term on the Court in the following November. After his term expired in 1970, he continued in the capacity of Senior Judge until his death in 1974.

SCOPE AND CONTENT

RPA I: Biographical and Autobiographical. (5 cu. ft. and oversized items.) The first two subseries include a number of articles and resumes which review RPA's career, including important cases (see, in particular, "A Short Summary of the Life and Activities of Raymond Pace Alexander"[1966]). A third subseries provides documentation of RPA's international travels (1931- 1973). The bulk of the series (over 4 cu. ft.) consists of boxed clippings and other scrapbook material (bulk dates 1959, 1973-5). In addition, there are a number of oversized scrapbooks (1917-70 with gaps).

RPA II: Personal Correspondence. (3 cu. ft.) Correspondence with STMA (mostly mid-1950s), other family members (1940s-60s), and J. Turner Layton, who was probably RPA's closest friend (1940-70), make up about 1 cu. ft. The remainder of the series is made up of miscellaneous and unsorted correspondence (1 cu. ft.; 1935-74) and greeting cards (1 cu. ft.; late 1930s- 74).

RPA III: General Correspondence. (8 cu. ft.; 1935-74.) Primarily miscellaneous and unsorted correspondence. The series includes some correspondence with family members and papers pertaining to professional and civic activities; a preliminary cross-referencing of this material has been provided. The material is arranged in preliminary chronological order without subseries divisions. At the end of the series are several folders of condolences received by the family after RPA's death.

RPA IV: Professional Correspondence. (2 cu. ft.; 1935-70.) Primarily material pertaining to RPA's management of his professional and political career, including his early efforts to secure a judicial appointment (1937 and 1949-52) and his campaigns for City Council (1951) and the Court of Common Pleas (1959), and his retirement from the bench and continuation as Senior Judge (1969-70). The series also contains papers pertaining to clerkships and masterships in the law and various other activities related to the legal profession but not directly related to RPA's practice, his position on the bench, or his membership in professional organizations.

RPA V: Financial Records. (6 cu. ft.; 1926-76.) Primarily material pertaining to personal finances as opposed to those of the law practice, which are housed in RPA VII.C and D. Miscellaneous records (brokerage statements, mixed receipts, bank statements and canceled checks, tax returns, insurance, and expenditures for the children), together with a number of general ledgers, account for a little over 3 cu. ft. The years between about 1940 and 1974 appear to be covered fairly well, with some records going back as early as 1926. The series also contains records pertaining to Skywater Farm, the Alexanders' country home near Coatesville (1944-1962; approx. 2/3 cu. ft.); 1900 Chestnut Street, the building built by RPA which his office were located after 1935, when it was completed (1934-1972; 1/2 cu. ft.); miscellaneous real estate, mostly mortgages and investment property (1926-59; 1/2 cu. ft.); and wills, estate, and trust (1960-1983, bulk dates 1974-76; 1/2 cu. ft.)

RPA VI: Education. (1/2 cu. ft.; 1917-74.) Material pertaining to Central High School, the University of Pennsylvania, and Harvard Law School. The bulk of the series pertains to Harvard Law School. A few items date from RPA's years as a student; the bulk of the series pertains to RPA's activities as an alumnus, in particular, to contributions, fundraising, and reunions. The series also includes a number of articles by and about RPA published in the alumni journals of his alma maters.

RPA VII: Law Practice and Related Professional Papers. (6 cu. ft.) The bulk of the series is made up of financial records (2 cu. ft.; 1926-74; bulk dates 1935-59) and office diaries, appointment books, message books, and the like (4 cu. ft.; 1924-52). The series contains a number of summary records (internal memoranda, dockets, ledgers, etc.) that may be useful in gaining an overview of the history of the practice (see also RPA I).

RPA VIII: Legal Issues and Actions. (30 cu. ft.; bulk dates 1940-58.) This is the largest series in the collection. Almost half its bulk is in the miscellaneous category (a few folders at most per client). The most significant cases represented here are the Girard College case (4 1/2 cu. ft.; bulk dates 1942-67), which led to the desegregation of a privately endowed free school for white orphan boys; and the Trenton Six case (3 cu.; 1948- 51), in which six black men stood trial for five and a half months in what was then the longest murder trial in American history. The AME Bishops case (1 1/2 cu. ft.; bulk dates 1946-47) involved the ouster of an AME Bishop by certain of his colleagues. Pearl and Benjamin Mason (approx. 3 2/3 cu. ft.; 1939-71) were Irish Sweepstakes winners who, under RPA's management, financed mortgages and built the Frances Plaza Apartments, a pioneering privately-financed low-income housing project, at 20th and Lombard Streets. Rose Carina 1/4 cu. ft.; 1939-40) was the "Arsenic Widow" whom RPA successfully defended in a sensational trial involving a murder- by-contract racket. Other clients represented in individual subseries include RPA's close friend, the popular songwriter J. Turner Layton 1/4 cu. ft.; 1939-60), and STMA's uncle, the painter Henry O. Tanner (less than 1 cu. ft.; 1924-29, 1937).

RPA IX: City Council. (6 cu. ft.; 1952-59.) Contains a large number of subseries pertaining to a variety of specific issues. The largest cluster of subseries relates to the business of the Committee on Recreation, which RPA chaired from 1952 to 1956 (approx. 2 cu. ft.). A number of other subseries(incinerator; municipal facilities; transportation; zoning, planning, and development) probably relate to the Committee on Public Property and Public Works, which RPA chaired from 1956 to 1959.

RPA X: Court of Common Pleas. (10 cu. ft.; 1959-74.) The major part of this series (6 cu. ft.) consists of records and papers relating to judicial issues and actions; the remainder is made up primarily of administrative papers and financial records (2 cu. ft.) and message books and office diaries (3 cu. ft.). The most significant of the issues and actions files are the grand juries of 1961-62 dealing with the City Hall payola scandals, and the Community Legal Services case (1966-67), a landmark case in establishing government- supported legal services for the poor.

RPA XI: Other Government Service. (3 cu. ft.; 1944-68.) RPA was named Honorary Consul of Haiti in Philadelphia in 1946 and represented Haiti in the settlement of its war debt and in other litigation. The papers relating to the Haitian Consulate (2/3 cu. ft.; 1946-56) consists primarily of correspondence, with some clippings and ephemera. In 1949-50, RPA was sent to Germany by the Department of Defense to report on the situation of black soldiers in the occupation forces. He reported again on blacks in the armed forces in 1963 (3 folders). During the 1960s, he made several international goodwill tours (of Scandinavia [1963], India and Southeast Asia [1965], Vietnam [1966], and the Middle East [1968] under the auspices of the State Department (approximately 1 1/2 cu. ft, more than half of which relates to the Middle East tour).

RPA XII: Legal Organizations. (6 cu. ft.; 1929-73.) RPA was active in World Peace through Law (3 1/2 cu. ft.) from 1963 until 1973. The WPTL subseries contains primarily material pertaining to the several WPTL international conferences RPA attended during these years. About half the WPTL papers relate to the 1973 conference in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, when RPA was active in organizing the International Legal Education Section. RPA's papers relating to the National Bar Association (2 cu. ft.; 1929-74 but dropping in bulk after 1943 and showing gaps and clumps thereafter) should be of considerable historical interest. The NBA was the black parallel organization to the American Bar Association, which did not admit blacks until 1952. RPA served the NBA as its president from 1930 to 1934. He was also co-founder of the National Bar Journal and its associate editor for four years (ca. 1936). A smaller subseries devoted to the American Bar Association (12 folders) includes correspondence relating to the ABA's rejection of RPA's application for membership in 1947 and leading to his eventual admission (ca. 1952).

RPA XIII: Civic Organizations. (4 2/3 cu. ft.) RPA belonged to and took a more or less active interest in a large number of civic organizations. This series is composed of sixteen subseries devoted to individual organizations (3 2/3 cu. ft.) and one miscellaneous subseries (1 cu. ft.). Most of the organizations RPA was most active in were exclusively black. A number of them, such as the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History, were primarily concerned with promoting awareness of the cultural heritage of African-Americans. To single out one other organization, the papers relating to the Philadelphia Cotillion Society should be of interest to researchers interested in the social world of the black elite.

RPA XIV: Clubs and Social Groups. (2 2/3 cu. ft.) One subseries dominates this series -- that of Sigma Pi Phi fraternity, Alpha Boule. RPA at one time served as National Vice President of Sigma Pi Phi (n.d.). He also held an annual summer entertainment for the Alpha Boule at Skywater [1945-57]. See RPA XVIII for photographs. RPA was also a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, perhaps the most prestigious black fraternal organization.

RPA XV: Writings, Publications, and Speeches. (5 1/2 cu. ft.; 1923-73.) The inventory for this series itemizes a large number of individual writings and speeches, including many published articles. A number of folders containing source materials are also interfiled here, in keeping with RPA's practice. The series is arranged in chronological order without subseries divisions.

RPA XVI: Certificates, Honors, and Awards. (3 1/2 cu. ft. and additional oversized objects; 1912-75; initial bulk date 1950.) Diplomas and law credentials (1912-47); citations, awards and testimonials with related papers (approx. 2/3 cu. ft.; 1939-1975); plaques, trophies, and presentation flatware (3 cu. ft.; 1932-75). Among the most significant honors awarded to RPA was the testimonial banquet given in his honor by the John M. Langston Law Club and the Barristers Law Club in 1951.

RPA XVIII: Audio-Visual Material. (7 cu. ft.; ca. 1880-1974.) The Alexander Papers include a large number of photographic prints, color transparencies, and 16 mm film. Many items were found undated and unlabelled. An effort has been made to identify and date this material as specifically as possible. The subseries are arranged in preliminary chronological order. There are many good portraits and occasional scenes (many of them taken professionally), as well as candid and posed snapshots, among the photographs.

RPA XIX: Family and Genealogy. (1 cu. ft.) Papers relating to various members of the Alexander family.

RPA XX: Books, Journals and Magazines. (5 cu. ft.) Material pertaining to RPA's alma maters, the legal profession, and African-American history and affairs, including 27 issues of the Journal of Negro History.

Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Record Group

UPT 50 A374S (83.0 Cubic feet)

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTE

Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander was featured as "Woman of the Year" in a 1948 comic book published by The National Urban League and titled "NEGRO HEROES."
All pages can be viewed
here
.

Born in Philadelphia in 1898, the youngest of three children, Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander (B.S., 1918; A.M., 1919; Ph.D., 1921; LL.B., 1927) is a member of two distinguished families.

Her maternal grandfather was Benjamin Tucker Tanner (1835-1923), a Bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church. Bishop Tanner had seven children, the best known of whom is the painter Henry O. Tanner (1859-1937). Another daughter of Bishop Tanner, Hallie Tanner Johnson, became a social worker and physician and established the Nurses' School and Hospital at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.

Sadie Tanner Mossell's father, Aaron A. Mossell (1863-1951) (LL.B. 1888), was the first African-American to graduate from Penn's Law School. Her uncle, Nathan Francis Mossell (1856-1946) (M.D. 1882) was the first African-American to graduate from Penn's Medical School. In 1895 Dr. Mossell was a co-founder of the Frederick Douglass Hospital, which later merged with Mercy Hospital to form Mercy-Douglass. Sadie's paternal grandfather, Aaron Mossell, sr., had established a successful brick-making business in Lockport, New York.

When Sadie was a child, her mother and siblings frequently alternated residence between Washington, D.C., and Philadelphia. When she reached high school, she went to live in Washington with her uncle, Lewis Baxter Moore (Ph.D., 1896) who was dean at Howard University and the husband of her mother's sister, Sadie Elizabeth Tanner. She attended the M Street High School in Washington and graduated in 1915.

She then attended the School of Education at the University of Pennsylvania, graduating in 1918. Following her college graduation, she entered the Graduate School at Penn to study economics. In 1921, she became the first black woman in the U.S. to obtain a Ph.D.

Despite her academic achievements, she had difficulty finding employment in Philadelphia and went to work for the black-owned North Carolina Mutual Life Insurance Company in Durham, remaining there for two years. In 1923, shortly after Raymond Pace Alexander was admitted to the Bar and opened his practice, she returned to Philadelphia to be married.

The following year, in the fall of 1924, she entered the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She became the first black woman to graduate from that institution and the first black woman admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar in 1927. Thereupon, she joined her husband's practice, specializing in estate and family law.

She was appointed Assistant City Solicitor for the City of Philadelphia and held that position from 1928 to 1930 and from 1934 to 1938. From that time forward, she served on numerous boards, committees, and commissions and held office in many local and national organizations. Among her most notable activities was her service on President Truman's Committee on Human Rights in 1947 and on the Commission on Human Relations of the City of Philadelphia from 1952 until 1968. She continued her employment in her husband's firm from 1927 until 1959, when he was named to the Court of Common Pleas in Philadelphia. She subsequently practiced independently until 1976, when she joined the firm of Atkinson, Myers, and Archie in the capacity of counsel. She retired from practice and from public life generally in 1982. Mrs. Alexander died in 1989 and is survived by two daughters, Mary Elizabeth Alexander Brown (1934 -) and Rae Pace Alexander Minter (1937 -).

SCOPE AND CONTENT

STMA I: Biographical and Autobiographical. (2 cu. ft. and oversized items.) The first two subseries include articles, resumes, and interview material which review STMA's life and career, including her family history, practice in the law, and civic and governmental activities. Another subseries (approximately 2/3 cu. ft.) documents STMA's international travels (1937- 1980). The last subseries (approx. 1/2 cu. ft.) consists of clippings and other scrapbook material (1923-83 with some gaps). In addition, there are a number of oversized scrapbooks (1945-46 and 1963-67).

STMA II: Personal Correspondence. (7 cu. ft.) Family correspondence (with RPA [intermittent 1921-68]; EMA [1937-64]; and Isabel Tanner Temple, her aunt [1946-57]; with and about her two daughters [1935-1983]; and with assorted other relatives) comprises approx. 2 1/2 cu. ft. of this series, over half of which relates to Mary Elizabeth and Rae Pace. The remaining 4.5 cu. ft. is made up primarily of miscellaneous and unsorted correspondence (1923-80; bulk dates 1934-80 with a clump around 1947- 48). In the 1960s she carried on a correspondence with RPA's close friend, J. Turner Layton.

STMA III: General Correspondence. (2 2/3 cu. ft.; 1935-82.) Primarily miscellaneous and unsorted correspondence. As in the last (general) subseries of STMA's personal correspondence, the material is arranged in preliminary chronological order without subseries divisions. At the end of the series are several folders of condolences received by the family after RPA's death.

STMA IV: Professional Correspondence. (1 cu. ft.; 1939-83.) Primarily material pertaining to STMA's professional and civic career. The series also contains papers pertaining to her actions on behalf of law students and women in the law.

STMA VI: Education. (approx. 0.5 cu. ft.; 1917-82.) Material pertaining to M Street High School and the University of Pennsylvania (general and college, graduate and law school. The bulk of the papers in the series pertain to STMA's activities as an alumna (contributions, fundraising, activities in support of women's and black students' organizations on campus, an honorary degree). A number of items relate to her academic record as a doctoral candidate and law student.

STMA VII: Law Practice and Related Professional Papers. (9 cu. ft.) The bulk of the series is made up of financial records (4 cu. ft.; 1926-82; bulk begins ca. 1936) and office diaries, appointment books, message books, and the like (5 cu. ft.; 1936-79). The series contains a number of summary records (internal memoranda, dockets, ledgers, etc.) that may be useful in gaining an overview of the history of STMA's practice and her position in her husband's firm.

STMA VIII: Legal Issues and Actions. (10 cu. ft.; 1928-81 with bulk appearing to fall in a normal distribution plateauing in the 1940s and 1950s.) Nearly half of the series is contained in the miscellaneous category (a few folders at most per client). Papers relating to the legal business of Mount Lawn Cemetery account for 2 cu. ft.; four estates account for another 2 cu. ft.; and legal business of various AME churches accounts for 1 1/3 cu. ft.

STMA IX: Government Service. (6 1/2 cu. ft.; 1946-82.) STMA began her career in government service in 1946, when she was named by President Truman to his Committee on Human Rights. Papers relating to her experience on the President's Committee (primarily correspondence and memoranda) are nearly 1 cu. ft. in bulk (1946-57; bulk dates 1947). She was a member of Philadelphia's Commission on Human Relations (CHR) from the time of its formation in 1952, having been instrumental in its inception through the Philadelphia Fellowship Commission. She served for five years as its Chairman (n.d.) and retired from the Commission in 1968. Her papers relating to the CHR should be of considerable historical interest (2 1/2 cu. ft.; 1952-72). One of the last significant chapters in the public life of STMA was her appointment by President Carter and service as the chairman of the White House Conference on Aging (approx. 1 1/2 cu. ft.; 1978-81). She was removed from her position as chair by President Reagan before the conference took place.

STMA X: Legal Organizations. (8 cu. ft.; bulk dates 1945-82.) At different periods, STMA was extremely active in two legal organizations. In the mid- 1940s, she served as secretary of the National Bar Association (NBA), the black parallel organization to the American Bar Association, which excluded blacks until 1952. Her papers relating to the NBA, together with RPA's, may be among the most historically valuable subgroups in the collection (5 cu. ft.; 1930-79; bulk dates 1944-47). From 1946, she involved herself in the Philadelphia Bar Association (approx. 1 1/2 cu. ft.; 1945-82), serving on many committees, most notably the Committee on International and Foreign Law. From 1970, she assumed a position of leadership in the Philadelphia Bar Foundation (approx. 1/2 cu. ft.; 1970-82).

STMA XI: Civic Organizations. (12 1/2 cu. ft.; 1930-82; bulk dates roughly 1940s-1970s.) STMA was active in an extraordinarily large number of civic organizations. The series contains thirty individual subseries as well as a miscellaneous subseries comprising 2 cu. ft. in itself. The civic organizations in which she played significant leadership roles include the National Committee of the American Civil Liberties Union (2/3 cu. ft.; 1948- 82); the Americans for Democratic Action, National Board and National Vice President (less than 1 cu. ft.; 1948-59); the National Urban League (New York), of which she was secretary for twenty-five years (approx. 1 1/2 cu. ft.; 1930-57); and the Philadelphia Fellowship Commission, of which she was secretary (approx. 1 cu. ft.; 1946-65).

STMA XII: Clubs and Social Groups. (4 cu. ft.; 1921-1981.) This series contains papers documenting sixty years of STMA's involvement in Delta Sigma Theta sorority (3 1/2 cu. ft.; 1921-1981). She was Delta's first national president and served an extended term in that capacity (n.d.). A smaller subseries (1/2 cu. ft.; 1938-81) contains papers relating to miscellaneous other social clubs.

STMA XIII: Writings, Speeches, and Publications. (1 cu. ft.; [1920s]-80.) The inventory for this series includes a large number of individual writings and speeches. The majority of items included here are speeches. Many are untitled and/or undated. The series is arranged in chronological order without subseries divisions.

STMA XVI: Audio-Visual Material. (1 cu. ft.; ca. 1880-1982.) The Alexander Papers include a large number of photographic prints which have been assigned to the STMA record group primarily on the basis of subject. Many photos were found undated and unlabelled. An effort has been made to identify and date this material as specifically as possible. The subseries of photographs here is arranged in preliminary chronological order. There are many good portraits, and occasional scenes (many of them taken professionally) as well as candid and posed snapshots. The series also contains several reels of 16 mm film apparently relating to STMA's trip to India under the Auspices of the US Committee of the International Conference of Social Work in 1952.

STMA XVII: Family and Genealogy. (2 1/2 cu. ft.; 1872-1980; initial bulk date ca. 1931.) The first subseries contains a number of articles and other writings on Tanner and Mossell family history. Five subseries are devoted to Tanner forbears and relatives; five to Mossell forebears and relatives; and three to Alexander relatives. The material includes correspondence as well as various kinds of records.

STMA XVIII: Books. (2 1/2 cu. ft.; 1817-1977.) Includes a number of devotional works, primarily of the Doctrines and Disciplines of the AME Church (1817-1948); and a larger number of miscellaneous works, primarily non-fiction